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| Enjoying France! |
Hello everyone! Well it’s been a crazy last few weeks for me, with lots of traveling! It’s been wonderful and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I’m excited to share some of the highlights with you!
Our class trip to France was wonderful! It started off with a day trip to Chartres to see the famous cathedral there. We spent that day just looking at the cathedral and enjoying the town at our own relaxing pace.
We spent the majority of our time in Paris. So of course, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower and enjoy the view of Paris right away. It’s one of the most famous paid attractions in the world and it was kind of surreal to actually be there at first! The overall feel of Paris to me seemed to be “classy”! Unlike the orange and brown colors of the buildings of Rome, the colors of Paris are white and yellow. There were many more skyscrapers and large buildings than there are in Rome, which made it feel more like a big American city. Transportation is much more efficient and faster in Paris also, which made getting around a bit easier than it is in Rome!
While we were in Paris we were being guided around the city by our art teacher, Pascaline. So most of the sites we saw were with her. We saw many important and historic districts and buildings. We of course we were able to spend time at and attend Mass at Notre Dame. I really liked Notre Dame- it was much different than I expected walking up to it, but not less beautiful! Notre Dame was much smaller than the cathedral that we had seen earlier at Chartres, but once I got inside, I realized how huge it really was! Being there really made me feel like I was back in the middle ages.
We also saw the famous Sacred Heart Church and spent lots of time at the Louvre and other museums. The Louvre was probably one of my favorite things in Paris. It’s one of the most famous, if not the most famous, museum in the world and holds many famous art pieces, including the Mona Lisa. For an assignment I was required to give a presentation in the Louvre in front of a famous painting, The Dead Christ in his Shroud. To be able to present in front of the original work in such a famous and prestigious museum was an awesome experience and it was definitely one of the more exciting assignments that I’ve had in college so far!
We spent the majority of our time in Paris. So of course, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower and enjoy the view of Paris right away. It’s one of the most famous paid attractions in the world and it was kind of surreal to actually be there at first! The overall feel of Paris to me seemed to be “classy”! Unlike the orange and brown colors of the buildings of Rome, the colors of Paris are white and yellow. There were many more skyscrapers and large buildings than there are in Rome, which made it feel more like a big American city. Transportation is much more efficient and faster in Paris also, which made getting around a bit easier than it is in Rome!
While we were in Paris we were being guided around the city by our art teacher, Pascaline. So most of the sites we saw were with her. We saw many important and historic districts and buildings. We of course we were able to spend time at and attend Mass at Notre Dame. I really liked Notre Dame- it was much different than I expected walking up to it, but not less beautiful! Notre Dame was much smaller than the cathedral that we had seen earlier at Chartres, but once I got inside, I realized how huge it really was! Being there really made me feel like I was back in the middle ages.
We also saw the famous Sacred Heart Church and spent lots of time at the Louvre and other museums. The Louvre was probably one of my favorite things in Paris. It’s one of the most famous, if not the most famous, museum in the world and holds many famous art pieces, including the Mona Lisa. For an assignment I was required to give a presentation in the Louvre in front of a famous painting, The Dead Christ in his Shroud. To be able to present in front of the original work in such a famous and prestigious museum was an awesome experience and it was definitely one of the more exciting assignments that I’ve had in college so far!
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| The Tomb of St. Therese in Lisieux |
We had one free day while we were in Paris, and I spent it going to Lisieux to see the place where St. Therese grew up and lived all of her life. St. Therese is one of my favorite saints, and so it was very special to me to be able to see the places where she lived! We saw the house in which she grew up, the parish church which she attended and spent hours in prayer in, and the convent in which she lived and died. We prayed in front of her tomb and walked the same streets she did in the city. It was such a gift to be able to be there!
The last three days of our France trip were spent in Lourdes. Lourdes is the place in which the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in the 1800s. Our time here was more relaxed, to help us recover from all of our travels. We were able to see the place where St. Bernadette lived, the chapel where she received her First Holy Communion, and the church where she was baptized. We were of course able to spend most of our time at the grotto where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette. Our Lady asked St. Bernadette to dig in the mud during one of her apparitions, and a miraculous spring came forth! To this day, there is a spring there and pilgrims can wash and bathe in the water. There have been many miraculous cures attributed to the water: the lame have walked, the blind have seen, etc. It is a very powerful place to be in. Not only did I wash my hand and face by the little fountains throughout the grotto, but I was actually able to bathe in the waters. There are certain rooms set up for pilgrims to come and bathe, and it was a very powerful experience for me to be able to do it. Even looking at the other women in the room preparing to bath and seeing the great faith that they had was moving and very powerful!
Well we finally made it back to Rome, and spent a short week here with only two days of classes, before we were off again to Austria for the weekend. There were three of us that went to Austria, and we stayed in Vienna. In Vienna we were able to see two of the places where Beethoven lived and where he would have written some of his music. We were able to hear a Mozart concert in one of the halls that Mozart performed in himself! I enjoyed this so much…it was an experience I never thought I’d have. I already loved Mozart and Beethoven, but seeing the sites makes me have an even greater appreciation for their music!
While we were in Austria we also saw an old palace, the opera house, and two beautiful churches. We spent one day out of Vienna…we took a train to the foothills of the Alps and went hiking in them! The views were absolutely amazing! We even stumbled upon a waterfall and drank fresh mountain water from the stream. The weather was perfect for our hike and we felt so alive and near to our Creator!
I’m back in Rome now…we made it back for community night on Sunday, and we’ve been catching up on homework and things since then. A big bunch of us are off to Poland on Thursday for another weekend trip, so we are in the midst of planning our adventures there, too!
I hope everything is going well back at home. I hope you are all having a blessed Lenten season full of many graces! I’ll pray for you during the holy season while I’m here, in the heart of the Church- in Rome!
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| A few of us with our Art History teacher from Paris, Pascaline. |
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